Cill Dara Shinn Féin Poblachtach

You are most
heartily welcome to our annual Ard-Fheis. Since last we gathered in national
conference we have seen the twin imperialisms of British occupation, on the one
hand, and the EU/ECB and IMF, on the other, tighten their grip on Ireland.
Increased repression in the Six Counties coupled with the surrender of any
remaining vestiges of economic sovereignty to the EU by the 26-County State shows
the challenge that lies ahead for the progressive forces for political, social
and economic democracy.

Writing in
1914 in reaction to the proposed partition of Ireland as part of a Home Rule
settlement, James Connolly warned of the consequences that would result from
partition: “the betrayal of the national democracy of industrial Ulster would
mean a carnival of reaction both North and South, would set back the wheels of
progress, would destroy the oncoming unity of the Irish Labour movement and
paralyse all advanced movements whilst it endured.”

Those words
are no less relevant to the Ireland of 2012 than they were to that of 1914.

Today the
forces of reaction that are arrayed against us are no less formidable, but just
as Connolly, Pearse and their comrades identified the opportunity that such a
challenge held for their generation, it is up to the present one to likewise
find the opportunities that are presented to us and exploit them to the full.

The year
began with a very successful commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of Bloody
Sunday in Derry. On Sunday January 29, people from Derry and throughout Ireland
defied the political establishments of Stormont, Westminster and Leinster House
when they came out on to the streets of Derry to remember the 14 unarmed civil
rights marchers murdered in that city by the British Army’s Parachute Regiment
on January 30 1972.

Three
thousand people according to the Irish
Times of January 30 made their presence felt in a dignified display of
solidarity with the survivors and families of the victims of Bloody
Sunday. The march was to further the
cause of truth and justice. But the presence of such a large crowd also told us
that the pulse of Irish nationality still beats strong despite the censorship
and repression of Britain and its surrogates.

As Republican
Sinn Féin pointed out at the time of its launch, the Saville Inquiry failed the
crucial test of holding the British Government to account for the events of
Bloody Sunday. Instead as pointed out by Éamonn McCann on BBC’s Spotlight programme the Inquiry was
limited to dealing with the British soldiers who were present on the ground but
not allowed to investigate the military and political chain of command which
placed the British army’s notorious Parachute Regiment in direct confrontation
with unarmed civil rights protesters. In August of 1971 the same regiment was
responsible for the murder of 11 people in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast.

The failure
of the British State to bring any prosecutions against the British soldiers
identified in the report as being responsible for the murders is in stark
contrast to the ongoing arrests and charges being brought against people by the
HET (Historical Enquiries Team) in relation to events over the past 43 years.

Kate Nash, whose
father William was murdered on Bloody Sunday spoke eloquently and movingly of
the pain endured by the families over the past 40 years. She also used the
occasion to remind people that those murdered on Bloody Sunday were marching
against internment while 40 years later internment was still a reality in the
Six Counties citing the examples of Martin Corey and Marian Price.

All of this
must be seen in context. The Saville Inquiry was hailed by the so-called
constitutional nationalist parties – including the Provisionals – as drawing a
line under Bloody Sunday – despite its obvious shortcomings. Keeping up their
side of the bargain as it were, they moved almost immediately to announce that
the annual march, organised by the relatives would be wound up.

Thus another
uncomfortable truth about the nature of British rule would be conveniently
brushed under the carpet. They went so far as to threaten those families who
had stated their intention to continue with the annual Bloody Sunday march that
they would “de-legitimise” any future march. Soon after this it was announced
that Derry had been designated as ‘UK City of Culture’ for 2013. It is evident
that the British State is now attempting to co-opt the three strands of a
distinct Irish culture, our games, music and language in order to prop up
British rule in Ireland.

Over the past
ten years, beginning with the ending of the ban on members of the British Crown
Forces joining the association, the GAA at leadership level have allowed Cumann
Lúthchleas Gael to be used in the campaign of normalisation of British rule.
This was followed by the England Rugby team playing in Páirc an Chrócaigh in
2007 and culminated in the Queen of England’s visit there in May of last year.

In December
the historic ground was used to stage a Gaelic football match between the
RUC/PSNI and the 26-County police. As a result of blatant political pressure
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann effectively forced its Ulster Council to overturn
its initial decision not to hold the annual Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Derry
as part of the promotion of the so-called ‘UK City of Culture’ year in 2013.

As Patrick
Murphy points out in his column in the Irish
News of January 21: “The Fleadh is a particularly Irish event, reflecting a
proud tradition of music and song which survived centuries of ridicule, scorn
and suppression.” Now however it is to be used to sell the notion of Derry and
the Six Counties as being an integral part of the British State. Of course
Irish Republicans would welcome the Fleadh in Derry but not for this purpose.
We will be joining in the protests against this hijacking of Doire Cholmcille
over the coming months.

It has also
been mooted that the Oireachtas festival – celebrating the Irish language –
will also be held in Derry next year. Patrick Murphy tellingly points out that
while constitutional nationalism has now fully embraced British rule and as a
result is drifting from cultural nationalism, which still extols a sense of
Irish separateness from Britain.

However
Britain recognises this: “If you were in Whitehall today trying to bed down the
latest British victory in Ireland, you would bring cultural nationalism into
line with political nationalism. That explains the political pressure to bring
the Fleadh to a British government event in Ireland,” Murphy states.

In the last
year in Newry, the RUC/PSNI held an Irish language public meeting, using the
language as a recruiting tool.

Former
British Six-County Direct Ruler Peter Hain let ‘the cat out of the bag’
regarding the British government’s real attitude to the Irish language. The
newspaper Gaelscéal reports Hain as
admitting that the promise of an Irish Language Act for the Six Counties was
off set by moving its ratification from Westminster to Stormont where, Hain
proclaimed there would be an “inbuilt majority” against it.

So it is
obvious that part of our culture the British can’t extinguish they will try to
absorb. But as we saw in Derry in January, there remains “…the risen people who
shall take what ye would not give.”

The ongoing
internment of Martin Corey, Marian Price and others further underlines the fact
that nothing has changed in the relationship between England and Ireland. The
unchanging face of British rule in Ireland was underlined with two instances of
the stark inhumanity of the regime.

The first was
the initial refusal and final granting of compassionate parole to Republican
veteran and political internee Martin Corey to attend the funeral of his
brother Peter who died on May 21. A request by Martin to the authorities at
Maghaberry prison was refused, forcing Martin, only hours before his brother’s
burial, to take his case before the High Court in Belfast on May 24. Martin was
eventually allowed to attend the funeral, accompanied by two MLAs who collected
him from, and returned him to, Maghaberry prison. This is not the first time
POWs have been refused parole; in February another Republican POW, Damien
McKenna was refused compassionate parole to attend his father’s funeral.

The second
instance was the overturning of a Belfast court ruling, which ordered the
release of Martin Corey on July 9 thus exposing as myth any notion that the
Six-County state is a ‘normal’ democratic society.

The
internment of Martin Corey coupled with the treatment meted out to another veteran
Republican, Marian Price bears out the truism that when it comes to Ireland the
default position of the British Government when dealing with Ireland is naked
repression.

In his
judgement on the continued imprisonment of Martin Corey Justice Séamus Treacy
ruled that the use of closed or secret evidence as the basis for interning
Martin Corey was a breach of his human rights under Article 5 (4) of the
European Convention on Human Rights. Despite this the then British Secretary of
State Owen Paterson ordered that the case be heard by a second judge
effectively subverting the original judgment.

As Republican
Sinn Féin’s POW Department puts it: “And so 41 years after the introduction of
internment in the Six Counties it appears it is once more being employed as a
means of silencing Irish Republicans. What has happened to Martin Corey
constitutes not only an attack on Martin’s human and civil rights but are an
attack on the human and civil rights of all people within the Six Counties.

”The
continued imprisonment of Marian Price on trumped-up charges coupled with the
vindictive imprisonment of Gerry McGeough tells us much about the true nature
of British involvement in Ireland. So much for the much heralded human rights
agenda of the Stormont regime what we have got instead is more of the same.”
The statement concluded by calling on people “to join the campaign for the
release of Martin Corey and help expose the true nature of British occupation”.

Meanwhile in
Maghaberry prison Irish Republican POWs continue to resist the inhuman
brutalising regime which attempts to deny them of their right to be treated as
political prisoners. However, like Republican prisoners of previous generations
they have resisted all attempts to criminalise them or the cause for which they
suffer the loss of their liberty. They are indeed worthy successors of all
those who have gone before them. We salute them and pledge our unswerving
support to them and their families.

A day of
action in support of the Republican POWs was held on October 27. It was the
most significant coordinated display of international solidarity with Irish
Republican prisoners in many years involving at least 16 protests in 12
countries on three continents. Protests or events highlighting the plight of
the Republican POWs in Maghaberry as well as the internment without trial of
Republicans such as Martin Corey, the illegal detention of Marian Price and the
plight of Michael Campbell in Lithuania were held in Dublin, Lurgan, New York,
Sydney, London, Rome, Manchester, Toronto, Paris, Glasgow, Hamburg, Colorado,
Darmstadt, Dusseldorf, Magdeburg, Utrecht and Gothenburg.

The worldwide
events sent out a strong message that the political situation in Ireland is not
normal and that British Rule is still being met with resistance.

Of course
such a successful day of action was accompanied by the usual State repression.
In Lurgan the RUC/PSNI chose to use the protest to arrest Ard Chomhairle member
Cáit Trainor for non-payment of a fine arising from a ‘Release Martin Corey’
protest march held in Lurgan in January 2011. Her arrest follows that of Lurgan
Republican Martin Duffy on October 13 in relation to the same march.

Martin Duffy
was held for a week in Maghaberry prison, while Cáit Trainor was held in
Hydebank prison also for a week. In Hamburg the German police broke up a
protest at the Lithuanian Consulate and threatened those taking part with
arrest. The spokesperson for the Republican Sinn Féin International Relations
Bureau Dieter Blumenfeld, condemned the repressive actions by both the RUC/PSNI
and the German police forces against Irish Republicans: “The arrest of Cáit
Trainor at a protest in Lurgan and the breaking up of a peaceful picket in
support of Michael Campbell in Germany shows that the reactionary and imperialist
forces want to silence Irish Republicanism.” All who took part in the events on
October 27 are to be commended

The spectacle
of Martin McGuinness shaking hands with the Queen of England should not have
come as a major surprise. One needs to simply examine the facts; he is a
minister of the British Crown meeting the head of the State he serves. That is
the reality of what occurred in Belfast’s Lyric Theatre on June 27.

The Provos
and their spin-doctors may spin a line but it cannot hide the fact that McGuinness
did not meet the Queen of England as the representative of a free nation but
merely as a functionary within the apparatus of British occupation in Ireland.
Martin McGuinness’ meeting with the Queen of England was merely a symbolic
confirmation of the fact that the Provisionals are now part and parcel of the
British administration in Ireland. Dungiven, Co Derry, Republican Sinn Féin
spokesperson Michael McGonigle put it simply: “By joining in the celebrations
for the 60-year reign of the English monarch former antagonists had been
compelled to fling away any remaining trace of political opposition and had
been seen to acknowledge the authority of the British Crown in this part of
Ireland.”

The road to
reformism they embarked on in 1986 was clearly signposted along the way for
those who wished to see where it led. Each step, such as the acceptance of the
Unionist veto over national independence or the decommissioning of arms was
carefully mapped out.

The first
step would involve an initial strenuous denial by the Provos of what was about
to occur, the next step involved the inevitable announcement that the new
departure was being considered or ‘debated’ by its members. The final step
invariably involved presenting the latest sell-out as a fait accompli to its members in lieu of any meaningful
consultation and to the general public as essential to ‘advancing the peace
process’.

The
choreography has not changed, nor has the end result – further enmeshing in the
machinery of the British State. Speaking on The
History Show, on RTÉ Radio 1, on October 14, in a programme marking the
90th anniversary of the infamous Public Safety Bill used by the Free State to
execute Republicans during the Counter-Revolution of 1922-23, Shane Mac
Thomáis, a historian with the Glasnevin Trust made the observation: “What
Michael Collins accepted in 1922, de Valera accepted in ’27 and Gerry Adams
accepted in ’98”. Only the names change but never the result of the sell-out.

The next step
for the Provisionals will be to sit in the British Parliament in Westminster
and just as before their protestations to the contrary ring increasingly
hollow. The Sunday Business Post of
July 1 reported that the Provos are now preparing to issue an apology to the
British State for the deaths of its soldiers and police or anyone else killed
or injured during the course of the war against British Rule. Such a
development demeans the sacrifice of the IRA volunteers who sacrificed their
lives not for a New Stormont but for a New Ireland.

Such a move
is simply a cynical attempt to fatally undermine the efforts of any future
generation to end British rule in Ireland. The journalist Vincent Browne
observed that the Provisionals have now adopted the unionist position, which
views the Six-County State as the ultimate unit of decision-making rather than
the Republican position, which upholds the right of the people of a 32-County
Ireland to act as single unit of self-determination.

We salute our
members who protested at Belfast’s City Hall and at Belcoo RUC/PSNI barracks in
Co Fermanagh against the visit of the Queen of England to the Six
Counties. Also the people who placed a
message of defiance on the Black Mountain in Belfast declaring, “Ériu is our
Queen”.

A protest
entitled ‘Truth and Justice – not Jubilation’ attracted up to 1,000 people who
marched from the Falls Road to Belfast’s City Hall. These actions tell us that
there still remains a “respectable minority” prepared to defy the Anglicisation
of our country.

The
normalisation process is all too evident in the 26 Counties also. On August 25
a ceremony was held in Ireland’s historic Glasnevin cemetery commemorating the
infamous Black-and-Tans. The fact that this ‘ceremony’ was held in a cemetery,
which contains some of the most illustrious of Ireland’s patriot dead merely
compounds the insult.

This event,
ostensibly organised by two retired members of the 26-County police, should be
recognised for what it is, the latest in an incremental attempt to rewrite
Irish history in order to normalise and justify Britain’s occupation of Ireland
past and present. Indeed the leading national paper the Irish Times devoted hundreds of column inches – including an
editorial in pushing the publicity for this event. In February 2010 a similar
ceremony was held in Granard, Co Longford. Half of the town was burned by the
Black-and-Tans in November 1920.

The strategy
employed by those behind this policy begins by attempting to create an
equivalence between the forces of the British Crown and the Republican
Movement, from this the balance is titled to the point where the forces of
British occupation and their actions are legitimised, while those of the
Independence Movement are de-legitimised.

This is
demonstrated in the letter sent by the organisers to the Irish Times on August 22 described the purpose of the commemoration
as being: “…to commemorate the over-500 other police officers who were murdered
by the IRA during and after the War of Independence and in 1916”. Now we get to
the heart of the matter. The use of the term “murder” immediately suggests that
a state of war did not exist between Ireland and the British State and
consequently the actions of the Irish Republican Army were criminal acts. This
is to turn history on its head, which of course is the intention of those
behind this campaign.

There is no
equivalence between the Independence Movement and the RIC. The RIC, described
by the BBC history website as “the eyes and ears of Dublin Castle”, was an
instrument of British repression in Ireland which acted in defiance of the
Irish people’s historic right to national self-determination whilst the
Independence Movement acted in accordance with, and in defence of, that right.

There cannot
be equality in value between the oppressor and the oppressed following a war of
national liberation. The organisers of the Glasnevin event want to stigmatise
the Irish side in 1916-22 as ‘murderers’. That is far beyond equivalence. This
slavish commemoration, which the leading party in the 26-County Administration,
Fine Gael, supported, is symptomatic of a state which has lost its way and is
unsure of its identity. Does France commemorate the Vichy policemen or Norway
its Quislings who collaborated with German occupation forces?

All of this
contrasts with the treatment meted out by the 26-County State to many veterans
of the struggle for Irish freedom between 1916 and 1921. In 1985 a veteran of
the 1916 Rising, Dorothy McDowell was allowed to die in abject poverty having
been refused admission to Dr Steven’s Hospital, while today the same State
prepares to elevate the British forces which people like Dorothy McDowell
fought against in the cause of Irish freedom. The Glasnevin ‘ceremony’ on
August 25 according to media reports attracted only small and unorganised
protest. A repeat of such events will be met with much more attention and much
better organisation.

The march of
the new economic and political imperialism of the troika, consisting of the
EU/ECB and IMF, continues apace. Republican Sinn Féin played its part in the
referendum campaign against the Austerity Treaty – as well as enduring the
usual media blackout by RTÉ. As we pointed out during that campaign, the
Austerity Treaty is the creation of the same political and financial elite who
created the present economic collapse.

During the
so-called boom the profits of the wealthy were privatised to ensure they would
not be shared with society, now during the bust they socialise their losses,
forcing people across the EU to pay for them. Political events in France,
Holland and Greece indicate that people have had enough of this kind of
lop-sided economics.

The voting
patterns of the vote, which took place on May 31, tell us much about the
polarisation of Irish society with the increasing divide between rich and poor.
Those who have suffered most from the slash and burn economics of the political
and financial elites recorded the highest percentage of No votes. Like millions
of working people across Europe, working people in the 26 Counties have given
out a strong signal of their determination to oppose the neo-liberal economic
agenda that lies is at the heart of the entire EU project. EU power is based on
the fear of the People not the will of the People.

Of course we
have seen it all before during the referenda on the Lisbon and Nice treaties.
On both occasions people were forced to vote again for treaties they had
already rejected. The power elites of the EU are intent on grabbing even more
power. In all of this they have willing collaborators in the political
establishment of the 26-County State.

The system of
finance capitalism driven by France and Germany created the economic collapse
of the past four years, yet it is the working people of Ireland and Europe who
are being asked to pay the price.

In a May Day
address to the leadership of the Irish trade union movement we pointed out:
“The orthodoxy of the political and economic elites both here in Ireland and
within the EU is to rebuild the collapsed structure of finance capitalism
rather than deal with the human cost of that collapse. The legacy for future
generations will be an inability to educate the young, care for the sick and
provide for the old, the very markers of a civilised society.”

It is time
that the trade union leadership remembered that they owe their allegiance to
the Irish working-class and not the hierarchy of the 26-County Labour Party.
Social Justice Ireland highlights how the selective use of social and economic
data by the Troika is leading to inaccurate analysis, which in turn is
producing inappropriate policy recommendations for the 26 Counties.

Amongst the
points made by Social Justice Ireland are:

Poverty in
Ireland is rising despite Troika claims.

The
vulnerable have not been protected despite ‘Troika’ claims.

Accurate
analysis of data shows the richest 25% of the population have not been hardest
hit despite ‘Troika’ claims to the contrary.

An example of
this unacceptable process in practice can be seen in the analysis provided on
poverty. This analysis states that poverty fell between 2006 and 2010. What this statement hides is the fact that
poverty fell in the period 2006-2008 but has been rising since then.

A report
commissioned by the 26-County Department of Social Protection finds that
450,000 people in Ireland (10% of the population) were in food poverty in 2010.
The households identified as being most vulnerable to food poverty are (i)
households on low incomes, (ii) households with three or more children under
18, (iii) households where the head of the household is ill or disabled, (iv)
lone parent households and (v) households headed by a person who is unemployed.
The measure used takes three key “deprivation factors” into account:

- Not being
able to afford a meal with meat, or a vegetarian equivalent, every second day.

- Not being
able to afford a weekly roast dinner.

- Missing a
meal over a two-week period, due to a lack of money.

The research
shows that in 2010, 10% of people questioned for a CSO Survey on Income and
Living Conditions experienced at least one of these factors.

The coming
years will see an increase in grass-roots opposition as we see with the various
campaigns against the household charge, the septic tank charge, turf-cutting,
health and education cuts. We applaud the leading role played by our own public
representative Cllr Tomás Ó Curraoin, Contae na Gaillimhe and other Sinn Féin
members in these campaigns.

The need for
unity between urban and rural, employed and unemployed, young and old, the
public and private sector has never been greater. People must set about the
essential task of building a mass movement that is capable of acting as a
vehicle for radical political, social and economic change. The way forward is
not to resurrect a failed political and economic model but to begin anew.

A radical
change in thinking is demanded creating real economic as well as political
democracy. This means ensuring that the decisions which affect people and their
communities, are made by them rather than unelected and unaccountable
bureaucrats in Brussels or elsewhere.

Our political
and economic policies, ÉIRE NUA and SAOL NUA set out a blueprint for such a
New Ireland. We believe that our
programme for a Federal Ireland, ÉIRE
NUA, along with our social and economic policy SAOL NUA, provides the basis for just such a radical transformation
leading to a New Ireland. Taking control of the levers of political and
economic power and decision-making are vital if we are to bring about the type
of revolutionary transformation that is required. This includes taking
ownership of our natural resources.

We have only
to look to South Africa to see what results from refusing to address economic
as well as political inequality. It leaves us with the spectacle of an ANC
government using apartheid-era laws to crush a miner’s strike. We extend our
solidarity to the South African miners and salute the memory of their fallen
comrades. They are part of the international fight against imperialism.

The excellent
booklet Liquid Assets, launched by
Dublin Shell-to-Sea in September, sets out the extent of natural gas and oil
off the Irish coast and proposes a number of options by which these can be
exploited in the interests of the Irish people – in contrast with the present
set-up where our resources are being given away.

According to
Shell-to-Sea: “International studies show that State ‘take’ in Ireland is among
the lowest, roughly half the rate of countries with a similar economic
approach.

“An industry
report suggests the exchequer would earn as little as 7% of the revenue
generated from the sale of the gas from an Irish field. In other words, Ireland
(sic) effectively pays 25% of the
exploration and development costs, but gains considerably less than 25% of the
profits, despite owning the resource in the first place.”

Yet when
challenged the 26-County Administration peddle the big lie that the cost of
exploration prohibits any State involvement.

However
Shell-to-Sea point out in Liquid Assets
that “This is a false argument. In order to take a share in an oil or gas field
discovered by a private company, the State would not need to have shared the
risk involved in finding that field. The State can simply issue exploration
licenses to private companies on the basis that when a discovery is made, the
State will step in and take a percentage share in the ownership. These
resources belong to Ireland.”
International best practice should be followed in utilising our natural
resources.

Michael
Burke, writing in The Guardian cites
the example of Venezuela, which wrested back ownership of its oil industry from
foreign multinationals: “Hugo Chávez’s victory marks him as one of the few
leaders anywhere to be re-elected since the global economic crisis began.”

Venezuela has
had very large oil revenues for decades, but only since his government took
control of the industry, away from foreign multinationals and local oligarchs,
has the wealth it creates been distributed among the population.

Unlike
Ireland, and all the countries implementing “austerity”, poverty in Venezuela
is declining, healthcare and education improving and the economy is growing. If
Ireland is to benefit from an oil boom it needs to look to Chávez, not to
Thatcher.

As Irish
Republicans we too believe this is the only way forward in keeping with the
principle of the “The right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of
Ireland.” We salute the on-going fight in defence of Ireland’s natural
resources being waged by the Shell-to-Sea campaign.

The
announcement by 26-County Environment minister Phil Hogan of the decision to
abolish town and borough councils in the 26 Counties marks yet a further
power-grab by the Dublin based political elite. It marks a decisive shift in
the balance of power between local communities and the Dublin administration.

The 26-County
State, already one of the most highly centralised states in Europe according to
Dr Jane Suiter of Dublin City University, has increased further the imbalance
of power between the Dublin administration and the people. This move serves to
exacerbate the relentless power-grab of the EU political elite at a national
level. The cumulative effect is to place ever-increasing power in the hands of
unaccountable political elites in Dublin and Brussels while disenfranchising
people on the ground.

Republican
Sinn Féin identified this imbalance in power relations over 40 years ago and
forecast that it would only worsen. Through ÉIRE NUA we put forward a credible alternative to what was then and
is clearly now a dysfunctional political system.

The type of
real decentralisation of decision making from national to provincial, to local
level as advocated by ÉIRE NUA has
never been as relevant or as necessary as it is today. ÉIRE NUA would empower people in a tangible way, ensuring that
they, and not an accountable elite made the political, social and economic
decisions that directly affected them and their communities.

Earlier this
year direct Údarás na Gaeltachta elections were abolished in what can only be
described as a retrograde step. Since ÉIRE
NUA first appeared we have always stood for maximum self-rule for the
Irish-speaking areas. We have contested elections since Údarás elections began
and condemn this shameful development. This anti-democratic move is also a huge
blow against our Gaeltacht areas, which continue to find themselves under ever
increasing English language pressure.

As further
evidence of the marginalization of the Gaeltacht speakers, we view with extreme
dismay the complete removal of the Gaeltacht Irish-speaking Families Scheme and
its replacement with a woolly and non-inspirational set of leaflets for
parents. The Scheme, while it had its faults, was universally accepted,
provided motivation and was a very accurate barometer of the strength of the
language.

In recent
months the efforts being made by the Gaeltacht Schools to finally provide an
appropriate curriculum and supports for young native speakers are very
worthwhile of recognition. Meanwhile outside the Gaeltacht the silence of the
26-County Departments of the Gaeltacht and Education on the 20-year 26-County
State Strategy on the language, almost three years old, is deafening.

Beginning next year with the centenaries of
the foundation of the Irish Volunteers, the Irish Citizen Army and the 1913
Lockout, the coming decade will be one in which we will mark some of the key
events in our revolutionary history.

Other
anniversaries including the landing of the arms off the Asgard in 1914 and Pearse’s oration at the grave of O’Donovan Rossa
act as milestones on the road to the centenary of the Rising. The years after
2016 will bring the centenaries of the historic 1918 General Election – the last
occasion in which the Irish people acted as a unit in a single vote on the
question of Ireland’s right to national independence.

The Tan War,
the British Government of Ireland Act of 1920 which led to the partition of
Ireland, the Treaty of Surrender and the subsequent Civil War or
Counter-Revolution. All will be reminders of where we have come from and how
far we have still to travel. In April we
launched the build-up to 2016 and the centenary of the Rising with a very
successful seminar entitled Who Fears to
Speak of Easter Week?

Among the
speakers was the historian Dr Ruan O’Donnell of Limerick University. However
the coming decade is not merely a matter of historical memory, commemoration or
inquiry. No, it is much more than that. This decade marks an escalation in what
is a battle for hearts and minds. The build-up to the Centenary of the 1916
Rising is rapidly developing into a battle over not only how we view our past
but also the vision we have for our future.

The speech by
Stormont First Minster Peter Robinson marking the centenary of the signing of
“Ulster’s Solemn League and Covenant” in 1912 at the Head Quarters of the
26-County Department of Foreign Affairs at Iveagh House on March 29 is the
first step in a campaign to dilute and sanitise the Centenary of the 1916
Rising. The political establishments in Stormont, Leinster House and
Westminster have signalled their intention to suppress any meaningful
commemoration of the 1916 Rising by burying it in a celebration of the
imperialist carnage of the First World War.

The 1916
Proclamation and the so-called “Solemn League and Covenant” symbolise the
fundamental difference in the vision for Ireland held by Irish Republicans as
opposed to the forces of imperialism. The ‘Solemn League and Covenant” was
written in the narrow, sectarian and patriarchal language of empire, while the
1916 Proclamation addresses itself to “Irishmen and Irishwomen” in the
inclusive language of democracy, progress and human freedom.

Irish
Republicans unapologetically declare that 1916 will remain unfinished business
while “the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland”
continues to be denied by either the old imperialism of British occupation or
the new imperialism of the EU and IMF. We should view the coming decade as an
opportunity to infuse a new generation with the same idealism, principle and
endeavour that moved a nation between 1913 and 1923.

The October
edition of SAOIRSE addressed the
ongoing attack on the integrity of Irish Republicanism from the myriad groups
and gangs using that honoured name as a cover for their nefarious activities.
It is something which bears repeating here: “A new threat has emerged in recent
years and in many ways one which is potentially the most serious of all that
Irish Republicanism has faced throughout its long history.

“The
emergence of groupings styling themselves as ‘Republican’ but who in reality
are merely using that noble title to mask their real purpose of extortion and
racketeering. In some cases such groupings masquerade as anti-drugs activists,
posing as ‘champions of the community’. These gangs are an insidious threat to
the very survival of the Republican ideal.

“These
pseudo-Republican groups seek to control their communities through fear. Posing
as revolutionaries hides the grim reality that the only war they wage is not
one of national liberation but instead a war on the youth of their own
communities. The forcing of a father to present his son for a punishment
shooting as happened in Derry is medieval and far removed from any ideal of
progressive Republicanism.

“The drugs’
gangs who peddle their wares in communities throughout Ireland and across all
classes are enemies of the Irish people. The community and political activists
who oppose them deserve our full and active support. Irish Republicans are
rightly proud of the part they played in groups such as Concerned Parents
Against Drugs in the 1980s, and today it is vital that Irish Republicans
continue to stand by their communities both urban and rural in opposing these
dealers of death and social destruction.

“However the
pseudo-Republican groupings that take money from the drug dealers are no less
parasitical than the drug dealers themselves. In many ways they are worse in
that they leech from the communities they purport to defend – in effect they
are drug dealers by proxy with the added insult of sullying the noble name of
Republicanism in doing so. “The activities of these pseudo-Republican gangs
have the potential to eat away like a cancer at the very heart of Irish
Republicanism, leaving in their wake an empty husk with neither relevance nor
credibility.

“The duty to
halt this slide lies with those who claim the title deeds of
Republicanism. We have a bounden duty to
hold out against this hijacking of the Republican ideal; we must lead by
example in ensuring that authentic Irish Republicanism continues to live in the
hearts of the Irish people.”

SAOIRSE also addressed itself to the threats posed directly to Republican
Sinn Féin: “Over the past two years Republican Sinn Féin has been a direct
target of such activity. A Limerick-led grouping has attempted to steal our
identity and good name in order to cloak their criminal activities.

“This
particular gang meet the criteria of the classic black operations or ‘black
ops’ engaged in by State forces whereby a shadow grouping is set up which is a
perversion of everything that the legitimate revolutionary movement represents.
The purpose of these bogus groupings is to sow confusion, lower morale and
discredit the genuine revolutionary movement.

”In the past,
Republican Sinn Féin has been accused by its opponents of being ‘elitist’. I
believe this is an accusation we should not be afraid of but indeed embrace.
When it comes to ensuring our movement is a credible, motivated revolutionary
political organisation to be described as elitist should be considered a badge
of honour.”

Irish
Republicanism has always appealed to the highest and noblest instincts of young
people. Today we should be no different and the bar we set for membership
should be as high as that set by those who went before us.

Facing into
another year it is right that we should be conscious of the challenges, and
threats that face us but importantly we must also be aware of the opportunities
that are there for us. We must work to increase our profile on the ground and
in this regard we must step up our preparations for the 2014 local elections in
the 26 Counties.

There is much
work to be done and many battles to be fought on the political, the social and
the economic front. As we approach the centenary of the 1916 Rising, Republican
Sinn Féin’s place is in the vanguard of the struggle for a 32-County Federal
Democratic Socialist Republic, a Republic worthy of the ideals set out in the
Proclamation of Easter Week.

We are the
true heirs to a proud and noble revolutionary tradition and we neither
apologise nor bend to anyone in making that assertion. Indeed we should draw
confidence for the tasks ahead by that very fact.

In the words
of Roger Casement “We stand in goodly company and a right noble succession.”